Scoring system for athletic events

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for scoring athletic events such as a boxing contest. Each official is provided with an individual panel upon which performance points are recordable. The points scored by each individual judge or official are transmitted into a master console for cumulative progressive scoring of the event as it progresses, with the collected points being flashed on a scoreboard that is visible to the audience so that they may be progressively aware of the standing of the contest as it progresses.

United States Patent 91 Sweeny [4 1 June 5,1973

[54] SCORING SYSTEM FOR ATHLETIC EVENTS [76] Inventor: Edward J. Sweeny,3530 Fenley Road, Cleveland Heights, Ohio 44l2l [22] Filed: Mar. 3, 1971[21] Appl. No.: 120,550

[52] U.S. Cl. ..340/323, 235/92 GA [51 1 Int. Cl. ..G08b 23/00 [58]Field of Search ..340/323; 273/] E;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,202,803 Markstrom ..235/92GA 2,669,389 2/1954 Mesi et al. ..340/323 X Primary Examiner-Donald J.Yusko AttorneyFreeman & Taylor [57] ABSTRACT A method and apparatus forscoring athletic events such as a boxing contest. Each official isprovided with an individual panel upon which performance points arerecordable. The points scored by each individual judge or official aretransmitted into a master console for cumulative progressive scoring ofthe event as it progresses, with the collected points being flashed on ascoreboard that is visible to the audience so that they may beprogressively aware of the standing of the contest as it progresses.

7 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures Patented June 5, 1973 5 Sheets-Sheet FIG./

INVENTOR. EDWARD J. SWEENY ATTORNEYS Patented June 5, 1973 3,737,889

5 Shoe ts-Sheet 2 CLOCK START CLOCK O AUTO 'HO'RN HORN 50 mvsmox.

EDWARD J. SWEENY BY Jmv-M A TTORNEYS Patented June 5, 1973 5Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG. 5

INVENTOR. ED WA RD J. SWEENY A T TORNEYS Patented 'June 5, 19733,737,889

5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR. EDWARD J. SWEENY BY JWMV ATTORNEYS MM- June5, 1973 3,131,889

5 Sheets-Sheet .5

scam:

BOARD INVENTOR. EDWARD J. SWEENY BY MMJ ATTORNEYS BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a methodof improving the efficiency and accuracy with which an athletic contestis judged. While the application is illustrated in connection with aboxing environment, it is not to be limited to this field exclusively,since the invention has equal applicability to any athletic contest suchas wrestling, diving, precision figure skating, where judges make pointawards at the conclusion of the event.

In the instance of boxing, for example, each of the three officialsnormally assigned to the contest privately records his decision at theend of each round, and at the end of the event the officials cards aregiven to the referee who announces the winner.

Under this arrangement the audience has no real knowledge of who iswinning the contest as it progresses. Also, it is a rare instance whenthe audience ever learns the round-by-round score given by an official.

In addition to being disadvantageous from the standpoint of notpermitting the audience to be aware of the score as the eventprogresses, present day judging methods leave something to be desired inthat the judges are oftentimes influenced, although perhapsunintentionally, by crowd reaction and crowd noise.

In this regard, an official sometimes unintentionally will judge theeffect of a punch by the crowd noise rather than by the severity of theblow as should be the case.

A still further disadvantage of present day methods of scoring contestsof the type herein being discussed exists with respect to the fact thatonce the contest is judged, by the officials present methods, there isno valuable residual scoring information that could be issued toestablish a more accurate rating of fighters, for example.

2. Description of the Prior Art Two attempts of solving the abovedifficulties have been made to the best of Applicants knowledge.

In Amory U.S. Pat. No. 1,922,517 there was provided an apparatus forscoring bouts that consisted essentially of a reduced summary of thejudges decision round by round. However, in the Amory Patent,there wasno mechanism to indicate the progress of the score during the round,with the decision being posted, in effect, after the fact when the roundhad been completed.

Similarly, in Mesi et al U.S. Pat. No. 2,669,389 there was provided inaddition to the judges individual scores, cumulative point totals thatwere summarized on the scoreboard visible to the audience. Here again,however, there is no provision made for informing the audience of thescore progressively during each round, for example.

Additionally, neither of these patents disclose any apparatus or methodfor insulating the official from the influence of crowd noise andreaction.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION point in time during the same. He has also, aswill hereinafter be described, provided an apparatus for insulating thejudging official from the influence of crowd noise and reaction.

Finally, he has, by providing this progressively scoring arrangement,established a method by which the efficiency of not only theparticipants but also the officials may be evaluated following thecontest.

These and other objects of the invention will become more apparent upona reading of the following brief specification, considered andinterpreted in view of the accompanying drawings.

OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically illustratingthe invention in a boxing environment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view partially broken away and in section of themaster console.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the control unit for the master console.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the scoreboard.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the scoring mechanism used by each of thethree officials.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the scoring booth.

FIG. 7 is a vertical section taken on the lines 7-7 of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a vertical view looking at the rear of the scoring unit withone door thereof being in the open position.

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of a wiring diagram.

Referring now to the drawings and in particular to FIG. 1, the improvedscoring mechanism includes a master console 10, a series of identicalscoring booths l1, l2 and 13 that each have identical operating panels14,14 therein so that upon operation of the panel by the official, thepoints scored will be totaled by the master console 10 for ultimatedisplay on a scoreboard 15, with the scoreboard 15 being located overthe boxing ring 16, as shown in FIG. 1.

Referring now to FIG. 2 of the drawings for a more detailed descriptionof the master console 10, it will be first noted that the same includesan upper cabinet portion 20 within which certain electrical componentsmay be found, with the panel 20 being covered by a door unit 21 havingopenings 22,23 (see FIG. 1) therein so that the operator seated in theunit may record the point totals visible through each opening 22,23.

A table portion 25 is provided so as to receive a master control unit 26that is used by the control operator for other purposes as willhereinafter be described.

With reference to the electrical components employed, it has been foundpreferable to provide some form of mechanism that will record a singlepoint on the scoreboard only upon receiving a multiple number of pulsesfrom the individual scoring units 14,14. In practice, a three to oneratio has been employed so that, in effect, three points'or pulses arerequired to be accumulated from one or more units 14,14before a singlescore or point is recorded on the scoreboard 15.

In practice, this could either'be eliminated, or the number of pulsesrequired to change the point total could be increased or decreased.

The electrical operation of the control unit 26 is schematicallydescribed in FIG. 9 of the drawings wherein S1, S2, and S3 schematicallyrepresent the official s switch for one particular fighter, with thisswitch corresponding to the switch 62 or 63 of FIG. 5 of the drawings.C1, C2, and C3 represent either the three officials counters 31, 32, and33 (FIG. 2) that are provided for one fighter or the counter-units 31a,32a, and

vided for one fighter, or the stepping switches 34a; 35 a,

and 36a that are provided for the other fighter. A relay 37 andtransformer 38 (FIG. 2) complete the physical hardware.

Each stepping switch is substantially identical to the remainingstepping switch, and the electrical operation of the unit, withreference to FIG. 9, is as follows.

Activating switch S1, S2,.or S3 causes its counter C1, C2, or C3 to addone digit. Simultaneously the corresponding stepping switch coil isenergized, causing that stepping switch SS1, SS2, or SS3 to advance oneposition.

Resistors Rla, Rlb, R are wired in series on stepping switch SS1, as areR2a, R2b, and R2c on SS2, and R3a, R311, and R30 on SS3. These threeresistance circuits are wired in series. Since Rla through R30 are ofequal value, the initial total resistance of this branch circuit is ninetimes Rla. Every time switch S1, S2, or S3 is activated, the advance ofits stepping switch reduces the branch resistance by a value equal toone times Rla.

This circuit is electrically connected as one arm of a bridge with R4,R5, and R6. R5 and R6 are equal to each other in resistance. R4 isgreater than six times Rla but less than seven times Rla. The bridge isnormally unbalanced with R4 smaller than the switched arm. After any tworesistors, Rla through R3c, are switched out of the arm, this is stilltrue. Upon a third resistor being switched out, the resistance of thearm equals six times Rla which is less than R4. The bridge is out ofbalance the opposite way.

The silicon controlled rectifier is used as the bridge detector. Whenthe resistance of the switched arm becomes less than R4, the bridge isunbalanced in a direction such that a trigger current is applied to thesilicon controlled rectifier which energizes the scoreboard for onepoint and resets stepping switches SS1, SS2, and SS3. The circuit is nowready to count again.

One such circuit is required for each fighter.

The control unit 26 is not per se associated with the individual scoringunits 14,14 utilized by the officials, but rather-serves to operate thescoreboard clock in known fashion, with the toggle switches 50,50, forexample, activating that portion of the panel for the fighter whose namethe same are associated with.

Round timer, horn, and clock control mechanisms are similarly providedin known fashion to control the scoreboard. The scoreboard per' se isshown best in FIG. 4 wherein fighter panel units 55, 56 are providedwith a series of bulbs that can be arranged in known manner to light upand give the score of the contestant at any particular point in time.Panels 55 and 56 thus represent cumulative point total display areas foreach fighter.

Likewise, the panel 57 indicates the round, while the panels 58 and 58aare utilized for the purpose ofshowing the time remaining.

Horn 59 completes the components shown on the scoreboard, with thecontrol cable 60 connecting the scoreboard with the master console 10and the control unit 26, as shown schematically in FIG. 1 of thedrawings.

In FIG. 5, the simple box-like control 14 is illustrated schematicallyas including a control cable 61 and a pair of toggle switches 62 and 63,with the cable 61 being fed into the console and with the switches 62and 63 being used by the scorer to indicate a point for the respectivecontestant.

FIGS. 6 through 8 inclusive are directed to the enclosed scoring boothsutilized by each official, and as shown in FIG. 7 this box-likeconfiguration includes a viewing area 70, a platform 71 upon which theunit 14 may be received, a chair 72 and swinging doors 73,73. Lights 74merely indicate that the booth is in use, and the entire booth issound-proof so as to insulate the scorer from the crowd reaction.

It has also been contemplated that to provide further insulation, theindividual officials can be provided with headsets through whichclassical or other type of music can be played to serve as backgroundmusic, thus completely freeing the official for concentration on thebout being judged.

Although not essential to the requirement of the basic unit justdescribed, it has been discovered that audience participation can beenhanced if the audience is given some visible signal as to the progressof any given round in the bout.

In this regard, it is contemplated that the preferred formof theinvention will include one or more light bulbs 81,81 that areassociated, for example, with the corner ring, as indicated in FIG. 1.By the use of appropriate electrical controls and connections indicatedschematically by the line 72 in FIG. 1, these lights can be electricallyassociated with the scoreboard timing mechanism so that as apredetermined amount of time remains in the round, the lights will beactivated.

Further and by use of known electrical connections, it is possible tosignify a period of time even closer to the end of the round by causingthe light to blink on and off as this time period approaches.

In use or operation of the improved scoring system, it will first beassumed that the scoring system is intended to be used in aboxingenvironment, and to this end the various components thereof arepositioned around the boxing ring 16 as best shown in FIG. 1. Althoughonly one face of the scoreboard 15 is shown in FIG. 1, it is obviousthat is may be provided with four or more sides to inform all of theaudience as to the status of the bout as it progresses.

Assuming that a boxing match is taking place within the confinesof theboxing ring 16, the scorers will be confined in their respective boothsll, 12 and 13, with a ringside view of the participants activities beingviewed through the glass or transparent panel 70.

Using the scoring unit 14 and operating one toggle switch witheach hand,the scorer, upon moving the selected switch, will indicate a point forthe fighter to whom he is awarding the same. A cumulative total of thepoints that are recorded upon each switching of the toggle by anofficial are collected in the console 20 and stepped down as previouslystated, so that upon reception, in this form of the invention, of threepulse rates, a point will be awarded to the fighter, with this pointvisibly appearing on either panel 55 or 56 of FIG. 4 as the case may be.

At the end of each round, the person handling the master console 20 willview through windows 22 and 23 the board totals awarded to each fighterby each judge, with" this information preferably being recorded forpost-fight analysis of not only the participants but the offlcials.

It will be seen from the foregoing how there has been provided a new andimproved type of scoring apparatus for athletic or other contestsinvolving an arbitrary award of points scored by an official upon theaccomplishment of an achievement.

It has been shown how this apparatus in the field of boxing, forinstance, materially enhances the spectator participation because of thefact that each spectator at each instance in the fight knows exactlywhat the score is.

It has been further shown how the collecting of this information at theend of the round can serve as a basis for post-fight analysis both as tocontestant and offlcial.

Finally, it has been shown how the use of insulated booths provides theofficial with an immunity from influence by crowd noise and the like sothat a judgment can be rendered without regard to crowd noise orreaction.

While a full and complete description of the invention has been setforth in accordance with the dictates of the Patent Statutes, it is tobe understood that the invention is not intended to be limited to thespecific form herein shown. In this regard and as has been indicated,the number of point pulses required to effectuate a point change on thescoreboard may be raised or lowered without effecting the operation ofthe system.

Accordingly, modifications of the invention may be resorted to withoutdeparting from the spirit hereof or the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A scoring system for judging contests of the character described,wherein two or more contestants are involved, comprising;

A. a plurality of judging stations, each of which 1. is located in closeproximity to the contest;

2. has a number of identical, non-variable, single point awardingmechanisms therein, with the number of said point awarding mechanismscorresponding to the number of contestants whereby the judging officialat each judging station can progressively award single points to anycontestant in accordance with their performance;

B. a scoreboard having cumulative point total display areas for eachcontestant;

C. a master console remote from and electrically interposed between saidjudging stations and said I scoreboard; said master console includingmeans for continuously and progressively tabulating the sum point totalof all judging officials for each contestant and reflecting it as asingle point total for each contestant whereby the audience isprogressively always aware of the sum total of points any givencontentant has accumulated at any given point in the contest; and

D. the sum point totals of each offlcial being progressively observableon said master console by the operator thereof.

2. The scoring system of claim 1 characterized by the fact that saidscoring system is used for judging a boxing contest, with three judgingstations being located in close proximity to a boxing ring and with twononvariable, single point awarding mechanisms being provided in eachsaid judging station.

3. The device of claim 2 further characterized by the fact that saidjudging stations are insulated against crowd noise so that the judgetherein is contained in an isolation booth.

4. The boxing system of claim 3 further characterized by the fact thatmusic is introduced within the confines of the isolation booth duringthe progress of the bout whereas the judge therein is insulated fromcrowd noise.

5. The boxing system of claim 3 further characterized by the fact thatsaid scoreboard has timing means thereon, with audience-viewableindicating means being controlled by the timing means; said indicatingmeans changing in appearance to give a pre-selected time-remainingsignal.

6. A scoring system for judging contests of the character described,wherein two or more contestants are involved, comprising;

A. at least one judging station that l. is located in close proximity tothe contest;

2. has a number of identical, point awarding mechanisms therein, withthe number of said point awarding mechanisms corresponding to the numberof contestants whereby the judging official at each judging station canprogressively award points to any contestant in accordance with theirperformance;

B. a scoreboard having cumulative point total display areas for eachcontestant; and

C. means for accumulating a pre-selected total of individual pointawards from said judging stations before reflecting a point total changeon said scoreboard.

7. A scoring system for boxing bouts, comprising;

A. a boxing ring;

B. a plurality of judging stations, each disposed adjacent the peripheryof the boxing ring;

C. identical, point awarding mechanisms located within in such judgingstation;

D. a master console;

E. means for transmitting the points awarded by each point awardingmechanism to a separate locale on said master console where the same maybe separately recorded;

F. a scoreboard having a cumulative point display area for each boxer;

G. means for accumulating a pre-selected total of individual pointawards from said judging stations and reflecting a point total change onthe scoreboard upon accumulation of a pre-selected total of said pointawards.

1. A scoring system for judging contests of tHe character described,wherein two or more contestants are involved, comprising; A. a pluralityof judging stations, each of which
 1. is located in close proximity tothe contest;
 2. has a number of identical, non-variable, single pointawarding mechanisms therein, with the number of said point awardingmechanisms corresponding to the number of contestants whereby thejudging official at each judging station can progressively award singlepoints to any contestant in accordance with their performance; B. ascoreboard having cumulative point total display areas for eachcontestant; C. a master console remote from and electrically interposedbetween said judging stations and said scoreboard; said master consoleincluding means for continuously and progressively tabulating the sumpoint total of all judging officials for each contestant and reflectingit as a single point total for each contestant whereby the audience isprogressively always aware of the sum total of points any givencontentant has accumulated at any given point in the contest; and D. thesum point totals of each official being progressively observable on saidmaster console by the operator thereof.
 2. has a number of identical,point awarding mechanisms therein, with the number of said pointawarding mechanisms corresponding to the number of contestants wherebythe judging official at each judging station can progressively awardpoints to any contestant in accordance with their performance; B. ascoreboard having cumulative point total display areas for eachcontestant; and C. means for accumulating a pre-selected total ofindividual point awards from said judging stations before reflecting apoint total change on said scoreboard.
 2. The scoring system of claim 1characterized by the fact that said scoring system is used for judging aboxing contest, with three judging stations being located in closeproximity to a boxing ring and with two non-variable, single pointawarding mechanisms being provided in each said judging station.
 2. hasa number of identical, non-variable, single point awarding mechanismstherein, with the number of said point awarding mechanisms correspondingto the number of contestants whereby the judging official at eachjudging station can progressively award single points to any contestantin accordance with their performance; B. a scoreboard having cumulativepoint total display areas for each contestant; C. a master consoleremote from and electrically interposed between said judging stationsand said scoreboard; said master console including means forcontinuously and progressively tabulating the sum point total of alljudging officials for each contestant and reflecting it as a singlepoint total for each contestant whereby the audience is progressivelyalways aware of the sum total of points any given contentant hasaccumulated at any given point in the contest; and D. the sum pointtotals of each official being progressively observable on said masterconsole by the operator thereof.
 3. The device of claim 2 furthercharacterized by the fact that said judging stations are insulatedagainst crowd noise so that the judge therein is contained in anisolation booth.
 4. The boxing system of claim 3 further characterizedby the fact that music is introduced within the confines of theisolation booth during the progress of the bout whereas the judgetherein is insulated from crowd noise.
 5. The boxing system of claim 3further characterized by the fact that said scoreboard has timing meansthereon, with audience-viewable indicating means being controlled by thetiming means; said indicating means changing in appearance to give apre-selected time-remaining signal.
 6. A scoring system for judgingcontests of the character described, wherein two or more contestants areinvolved, comprising; A. at least one judging station that
 7. A scoringsystem for boxing bouts, comprising; A. a boxing ring; B. a plurality ofjudging stations, each disposed adjacent the periphery of the boxingring; C. identical, point awarding mechanisms located within in suchjudging station; D. a master console; E. means for transmitting thepoints awarded by each point awarding mechanism to a separate locale onsaid master console where the same may be separately recorded; F. ascoreboard having a cumulative point display area for each boxer; G.means for accumulating a pre-selected total of individual point awardsfrom said judging stations and reflecting a point total change on thescoreboard upon accumulation of a pre-selected total of said pointawards.